Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Rum Flake

Unsmoked it has a subtly sweet flavor, if I didn’t know I would not say necessarily rum but it has a sugary quality and a sweet rose petal aroma that complements the earthy and grassy tobacco smell. The flakes are long and thick and I received them almost ready for smoking.

Super tasty polychromatic tobacco with a very mild scent. This is more like smoking a straight sweetened Virginia than a full blown aromatic Lakeland though there is a mild herbal scent that rounds off the edges along with the maple sweetness. And Virginia is not the only tobacco taste here, as I think I can also taste the cake-like Burleys. Leaves a lingering spicy and complex aftertaste. Strength is a solid medium and it smokes cool.

Excellent. Fully recommended in itself but also a nice tobacco to break into the Lakelands.

At first, I was disappointed with this blend. I was anticipating "The Christmas Cake Of All Their Tobaccos", as advertised. I bought it because I wanted another wild Lakeland Aromatic, for the rare moments when I crave them.

In fact, the blend is rather moderately scented. Well, it's scented in a pleasant way, but not to the point to advertise it as a "Christmas Cake" when there's an array of much more generously scented options in G&H line.

The tobacco has a pleasant Rum note in the tin. During the first five minutes after the initial lighting, some maple or licorice sweetness can be briefly tasted. That's all what is aromatic about this blend. And then its true face uncovers: abundant Burley-based smoke, strong and full, straight and manly. Really good in its own right but not too much of an aromatic.

Gradually I've come to like this tobacco for what it is and not for what I expected it to be from producer's advertisement. Lightly scented Burley is actually a rare and very pleasant thing. Will definitely order more of it.

For a number of years this was my main daily smoke. I began smoking G&H tobaccos at the suggestion of Jim Beard. I had quit smoking unfiltered Camel cigarettes after 36 years, and needed something with plenty of nicotine. So JB recommended Lake District tobaccos and they did fit the bill.

I was a bit surprised to see less than great reviews on G&H Rum Flake, but like double edge razor blades, end users have various preferences. I buy this tobacco in 500 gram packets and roll the flake out as soon as I get it.

I store it in an old ceramic Dunhill tobacco jar and it keeps well in there. As noted above, this was my daily driver, but G.L. Pease Robusto shot it out of the saddle, and though I still smoke the RF, it might only be a bowl or two in a day or two. I'm not good at reviews describing flavors, characteristics. Suffice to say that I highly recommend this tobacco.

While the flavorings are a little too much on the sweet side for me to be part of any rotation, this was a very good 'holiday' smoke. It also smoked (for me at least) a little on the slow side; a little went a bit longer than most other tobaccos, even other flakes. To my surprise, it also smoked fairly cleanly (no goop, despite being sweet).

Gawith Hoggarth Rum Flake has been described as a Christmas Cake tobacco and it is. Sweet, rich, exquisitely high class flake tobacco. I wish I'd discovered it many years ago. Delightful. Comes wet. Needs drying. Upon opening the tin the aroma is of overpowering rum. That quickly settles down and is all but lost in the sweetness of this eminently satisfying gem of a smoke. Very highly recommended.

I ordered a tin of this for the first time and received it this afternoon. Beautiful tin aroma of maple/vanilla and a touch of rum. I also detected a spicy undertone - perhaps the licorice. The bottom of my tin listed it as Virginias and Burley with flavors of rum, licorice, and vanilla. Medium brown in color with some sugar crystals starting to form on some of the leaf. A very mild soapy smell was also present, but none of the "lady-like" perfumes (thankfully).

It loaded well into a medium billiard, but due to its freshness, it needed many a light to get it - and keep it - going. However, it still was quite a remarkable smoke. I enjoyed it very much. It was pleasantly sweet, but not cloying. Despite the frequent re-lights, it smoked hot and with some bite only if puffed fast (I smoked two bowls back to back it was that good). It did have a soapy taste with lighting that pretty much stayed throughout the smoke. However, all though ever present, the soapy flavor actually was quite tolerable. The other flavorings blended superbly with this mild soapiness, and there was a nice tobacco presence as well. My youngest daughter said the tin aroma smelled like maple syrup. My oldest said the room note was like the caramelized smell of a roasting marshmallow. DGT on this one was spot on. As said, it can smoke hot and bite if pushed, so best to sip at this one.

Overall, I was very surprised with Rum Flake; enough so to add it to my rotation - perhaps once or twice weekly. Definitely better than an American blended aromatic, Rum Flake is a fine example of an expertly blended English aromatic.

UPDATE 3-24-13: My latest tin of RF had virtually no tin note at all - nor while smoking it. I thought it was a problem with the seal, but some RF I have left over from a previous tin is as dry as tinder but yet has a nice tin note and more flavor while smoking - go figure. The fresh one smokes like BB#2 but with a bit more Burley presence. Still good, but disappointed.

Ok, While this had a great burley base a wonderful virgina (G&H and Gawith make great virginia flakes...)taste.....I'm the party crasher. Maybe it was my tin, or I underestimate the floral casing....It just wasn't for me. The tin was presented beatifully. the flakes perfect. The tin aroma was great Anise and Rum.....I sooooo wanted to like it. Once this got burning....there was that weird fake floral taste. Be warned and enjoy....

The sweetness was quite present, though I couldn't finish the bowl due to the soapy taste. Probably a quality tobacco, but not one I'd buy. Jaybee & Esoxhunter nailed it precisely. Soapy aftertaste ruined the experience.

G, H & Co. Rum Flake has a bag note that is very sweet with grass and earth and a little spice, the rum is also present if only slightly so. The smoke is burley forward, but only slightly with its notes of earth, wood, nuts, and molasses. The VA's trail this just a little and they are a little tart and tangy, grass and hay notes are easily picked out. There is also a hint of dark fruit and a little spice. I do get a faint note of the Lakeland essence, the rum is only noticeable after about the first quarter of the bowl, but then comes through quite nicely. There is a little vanilla and the licorice is felt more than tasted. I have smoked a lot of flakes with rum in them be it as a navy flake, rum flake, etc. and this is at the top end of them. The rum and other sweeteners do not take away from the tobacco profile, make the smoke sweeter than it would be, and leave a slightly lingering sweetness after every puff. The strength is solidly medium as is the taste. It will not bite even if pushed. It can be an all-day smoke. Smokes dry and needs few relights. A great rum-flavored flake. 4 stars.